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EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER Alex Palou celebrates his third win of 2026, and his first career victory at Long Beach. (Photo Credit: Penske Entertainment, April 19, 2026) Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach had no shortage of drama, particularly on pit road and hours after the race. An underrated driver from an underrated team dominated qualifying and much of the proceedings, but INDYCAR’s star remained inevitable. Here are four takeaways from what we saw in round 5 of the

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou put on a dominant performance around Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix , leading 79 laps en route to his second win of the season on Sunday. His perfect day was cemented by a significant gain in the point standings, as his 21st victory vaulted Palou two points behind championship leader Kyle Kirkwood. "I'm glad the 13th pole didn't affect the result. T

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Casey Shepherd (Motorsports Today, 2026) Championship favorites couldn’t top the board. After Team Penske’s difficult weekend in Arlington, the trio of Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden dominated NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. The Chevrolet-powered team showed the most consistency between the two tire compounds, but were scattered through the top-10 once the field put on the altern

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributo r Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today 2025) Once Kyle Kirkwood passed Alex Palou with 16 laps to go, he didn’t look back, holding the four-time champion for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Grand Prix victory. Kirkwood capped off a dominant weekend by Andretti Global, as the team led 47 laps with all cars finishing inside the top four. "I passed Palou, which is a very rare thing to say, in a race” Kirkwood said. “It was

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Alex Palou remained untouchable on the Streets of St. Petersburg, leading 59 laps en route to his 20th career victory. After taking the lead by overcutting the field during the first set of green-flag pit stops, the Spaniard pulled out a 12.4-second lead on the rest of the field, the largest winning margin in Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg history. "I was sad last year that the season

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) Scott McLaughlin took pole in Fast Six qualifying on the Streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Marcus Ericsson and rookie Dennis Hauger. Not only was it the 12th pole of the New Zealander’s career, but it was also his back-to-back poles for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Just really proud of the execution, because I felt like we nearly actually missed the [advancing past the first q

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026) After crashing in practice in his last time around the Streets of St. Petersburg. Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No.3 Team Penske Chevrolet , topped first practice four-tenths ahead of Hondas of Felix Rosenqvist, driver of the Meyer Shank Racing No.60 and Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the Andretti Global No.27. McLaughlin ran the fastest time of the weekend with a 1:01.102s lap. His speed in pract